The History of the Rise and Progress of Poetry, through its several Species. Written by Dr. Brown. [with:] Thoughts on Civil Liberty, on Licentiousness, and Faction. By the Author of Essays on the Characteristics, &c. Newcastle upon Tyne, White & Saint, 1765.

Second (Abridged) Edition; First Edition. in contemporary speckled calf, foot of spine chipped, some light surface wear to spine and extremities, red morocco label lettered in gilt. Two works in one volume, 8vo, (203 x 115mm), pp. History: vii, [i], [9]-266, [2] advertisements; Thoughts: 167, [1], First edition of a wide-ranging discussion of civil liberty by John Brown, an Episcopalian moralist whose father had been ordained by a nonjuring Scottish bishop. Born in Northumberland, the family moved to Cumberland shortly after his birth when his father was presented with the living at Wigton. Educated at the grammar school there, Brown was admitted to St. John?s, Cambridge in 1732 where his contemporaries included Soame Jenyns, John Gay and David Hartley. Brown rose to fame with An Estimate of the Manners and Principles of the Times, 1757, an outspoken attack on the ?vain, luxurious and selfish EFFEMINACY? of England?s ruling class, which ran to numerous editions and gained him the sobriquet ?Estimate Brown? These two works were written towards the end of Brown?s life, when he was vicar of St. Nicholas, Newcastle upon Tyne. The first work is an abridged version, without the section on music, of his A dissertation on the rise, union and power, the progressions, separations and corruptions of poetry and music, 1763, described by ODNB as ?a pioneering work of conjectural history reminiscent of the Scienza nuova, though it is doubtful that Brown was familiar with Vico?s work? Starting with a discussion of melody, dance and poetry ?in the savage state?, Brown goes on to explore the origins of Hebrew, Indian, Chinese and Peruvian poetry and discusses at some length the development of various kinds of poetry in ancient Greece as well as in other European countries. An advertisement leaf after the title informs the reader: ?It is thought proper to inform the Purchasers of the ?Dissertation on the Rise, Union, &c. of Poetry and Music,? that the Substance of this Volume is contained in That; which is now thrown into the present Form, for the Sake of such classical Readers as are not particularly conversant with Music? In his Thoughts on Civil Liberty, Brown compares Great Britain with Sparta, Athens and Rome. His remarks on education, principally in using the example of Sparta as a justification for state-funded education, infuriated Joseph Priestly, who published two attacks on Brown?s work: An essay on a course of liberal education for civil and active life. With plans of lectures on I. The Study of History and general Policy. II. The History of England. III. The Constitution and Laws of England. To which are added, remarks on a code of education, proposed by Dr. Brown, in a late treatise, intitled, Thoughts on Civil Liberty, London 1765 and, a couple of years later, An Essay on the First Principles of Government, London 1768. ESTC t101765 & t789.…